This quick kid-friendly cooking project makes a tasty lunch and has a little science lesson thrown in, too!

We wanted to test what could float in a bowl of soup, and decided to make cheesy “crackers”. (Note: I used Daiya’s shredded non-dairy cheddar for the experiment, which worked great. Other non-dairy cheese will most likely work, too, but I can’t say for sure).

Travis picked a few fun cookie cutter shapes, including hearts, stars…and Darth Vader’s helmet! Sprinkle a thin layer of the non-dairy cheddar into each cookie cutter over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. We also made a few free-form shapes for comparison on the side.

Be sure to lift off the cookie cutters before baking! Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes, just until the cheese sets.

Let cool completely, then carefully peel the cheese shapes off the parchment paper and slip on top of a bowl of soup. We particularly liked these with tomato soup.

The kids loved seeing the cheese float. And then they tested out a few oyster crackers, too! That’s where the science comes in: if you press on the cheese skimmers, they will break the surface tension of the soup and sink to the bottom of the bowl. The crackers will always float for a different reason, though, namely density!